Monday, 4 May 2009

On my school blog, I've written a lot about Free Software [1]. In a nutshell, the word "Free" relates to the "Freedom" to use and modify the software, not the price. The catchphrase is usually: "Free as in free speech, not as in free beer". Well, maybe we'll need to find a new catchphrase: Last weekend, some of my friends found a beer in Taipei that is free in the freedom sense. [2]

Here's what the back says:

"FREE BEER (version 3.2) is an open source beer, FREE BEER is based on classic ale brewing traditions, but with the added guarana for a natural energy boost.

The recipe and branding elements of FREE BEER is published under a Creative Commons license (Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5). This license gives anyone the permission to use the recipe or create a derivative of the recipe to brew their own FREE BEER and to use and modify the design and branding elements. Anyone is free to earn money from FREE BEER, but they must publish the changes and results under the same license and credit our work.